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Dear Girl Scouts&comma;&NewLine;&NewLine;I am writing you to announce my retirement from Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa effective August 31&comma; 2015&period;&NewLine;&NewLine;I am so happy I got to work with a dedicated staff&comma; passionate Board of Directors&comma; and Girl Scouts across our council over the last few years&period; I am so proud of the work Girl Scouts are doing in our communities to make the world a better place&period; It’s been my honor to serve the organization&period;&NewLine;&NewLine;I wish all of you the best as you continue our mission to give girls the chance to become strong and successful leaders&period;&NewLine;

We are very grateful for the leadership and service Jamie provided and her tireless efforts to build girl leaders&period; We wish her well in her retirement&period; The Board of Directors is currently working on a search and transition plan for a new chief executive officer&comma; and we will communicate with members once this plan is in place&period; If you have any questions or would like to share your well-wishes with Jamie as she moves on to her next adventure&comma; please email us at info&commat;gsiowa&period;org&comma; or call at 800-342-8389&period; &nb&period;&period;&period;

Have you ever thought about becoming part of our summer camp staff when you graduate in the next few years? Taiylor (left) and Rebeca (right) share why they think you should join them!

Meeting new people!
“I love meeting new people," Taiylor said. "I always tell people at college, ‘Oh my friend from England, my friend from Scotland.’ My friends ask me, ‘How do you know so many people?’ I tell them: I work at Girl Scout camp!"

Making a difference (in others' lives and yours)!
"I love the fact that I get to make a difference in girls’ lives," Rebeca said. "Even when I was a camper, younger girls would look up to you because you were older. I love camp because I’ve become more independent, and I’ve definitely broken out of my shell."

Not sure if being a counselor is for you?
"Even if you don’t think you want to be a camp counselor, I would recommend the LIT and CIT programs," Taiylor said. "It builds your leadership skills, your communication, and so many things you need for life. And it may change your mind about being a camp counselor as well!"

Want to learn more about our Counselor-in-Training and Leader-In-Training camps? We have openings this summer! Visit our Event List for more information.

Service Unit 563, in the New Virginia/St. Charles area, wanted to help Ronald McDonald House in Des Moines in their mission to help the families of children with serious illnesses.

These girls collected four whole containers full of pop can tabs to donate, which Ronald McDonald House sells for scrap metal to raise funds for their organization. Not only that, but they visited the House to deliver the tabs themselves. "We learned all about how the families are helped by the charity through our tab collection efforts - what an amazing place!" said local leader Sarah.

Brownie Troop 00237 can do it all! These awesome girls went for a weekend camping trip at Three Mile Lake this April, but they wanted to do more than just flex their camping skills.

The troop also took on a service project to clean out the fire pits in the campground to help Union County Conservation get ready for the upcoming camping season. April showers certainly don't discourage these Girl Scouts!

Junior Troop 00845 learned about cooperation and teamwork while serving their community this spring!

The girls recently made fleece tie blankets for Project Linus, an organization whose mission is to “provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer 'blanketeers.'”

These amazing "blanketeers" used a portion of their Troop Proceeds from selling Girl Scout Cookies to purchase the fleece, and then spent a troop meeting tying the blankets together.

“Not only did they complete a service project they also learned about cooperation and teamwork while making the blankets,” said troop leader Jenny K.

We’re very proud of Troop 00845 for turning a great Cookie Program into a wonderful service project!

On March 12, Girl Scouts celebrated its 103rd birthday, and Senior Troop 00926 decided to mark the occasion in a unique way. Thursby, Kalina and Alexandra delivered a gift basket to the first baby girl born in their local hospital on March 12.

This gift basket included handmade items from each girl, other gifts, and personal handwritten notes of encouragement for the baby girl for each year until she turns 5. On that big birthday, she'll receive an official invitation to join Girl Scouts!

The girls came up with their idea while working on the “Mission: Sisterhood!” Girl Scout Journey and felt this endeavor would also work well as a Take Action project for that Journey.

“In Mission: Sisterhood!, girls learn of the power of sisterhood amongst women, learn to connect with other women, and learn to increase their feelings of being powerful, capable, and strong as they enhance their skills and develop new ones,” said troop leader Lori R. “Each of the senior girls have been Girl Scouts for over 10 years. They mentor and serve in active leadership roles of younger Girl Scouts each month as well as group overnights, events and other occasions.”

These amazing girls are truly being a sister to every (future) Girl Scout!

Emily, Lauren and Abigail of Troop 00088 know what it means to "Go Gold!" These amazing girls completed projects to address needs in their community, from Abbey's dedication to make books more available a local high school, to Lauren's efforts to help small businesses and new community members, to Emily's event dedicated to promoting safety and positivity online.

The girls were honored in a local Gold Award ceremony in Holstein, with State Representative Jason Schultz attended and presented the girls with their certificates!

"Girl Scouts has provided an opportunity for me to grow as an individual and develop my leadership skills," said Emily. "The strong women I have met through Girl Scouting have become positive role models in my life."

Congratulations girls! We can't wait to see what amazing things you'll do next.

What is the Opportunity Catalog&quest;&NewLine; The Opportunity Catalog offers easier entry into Girl Scouting and better visibility for parents about how girls can participate by allowing them to search for troops by zip code&period; In addition&comma; troop leaders will receive an instant email notification &lpar;with contact information&rpar; when a new member joins your troop&period; Parents will be able to view how many volunteers are currently supporting a troop&comma; and what opportunities are available for them to get involved&period; &NewLine;

What troop information will be posted&quest;&NewLine; Troop listings include troop number&comma; grade levels&comma; approximate location&comma; meeting day and time&comma; and the number of openings remaining for girls and volunteers&period; A Troop Description is displayed once you click on a troop&period; Each troop description will include general information about Girl Scout troops&comma; but you may add details&comma; such as “This troop loves to camp&excl;&rdquor; or “These girls are saving for an international trip&period;&rdquor;

What if a troop is already full or has specific requirements for membership&quest; While we want to offer all girls the opportunity to participate in Girl Scouts&comma; we know that some troops are currently full&period; If your troop is already at maximum capacity&comma; the troop can opt to not be visible on the catalog&period; This will allow returning members the opportunity to renew next year&comma; without allowing new members to select your troop from the catalog&period; We also understand tha&period;&period;&period;